This invention concerns a tampon provided with a holder, intended for insertion into the vagina. There is a prior art tampon/holder combination of this type, where the holder is designed as a rigid, cylindrical sheath which encases the tampon and the tampon is provided with a withdrawing thread which is guided out of the sheath in such a way that the tampon can be partially pushed out of the sheath by pulling on the thread. In this form of prior art embodiment the sheath encasing the tampon and serving as the holder is somewhat, i.e. for example, 30-60%, longer than the tampon, so that the tampon housed within is well protected. At the front end of the sheath, i.e. at the expulsion end, there is a 7-13 mm deep notch. One end of the tampon, the front end which is inserted into the vagina, does not finish bluntly, but is somewhat tapered, semispherically, for example, whilst the opposite end, i.e. the back end is flat. The withdrawing thread is affixed to this back end. It is guided away from the back end of the tampon and along the tampon to the notch at the front end of the sheath, at which point it exits the sheath, so that the tampon can be pushed out of the sheath by pulling on this thread. The notch is to ensure that when the thread is pulled towards the back end of the sheath, the end of the tampon whose length corresponds to the length of the notch remains in the sheath, so that the latter serves as a holder for insertion into the vagina.
However, this form of embodiment does have various, not insignificant disadvantages: on the one hand, the rigidity of the sheath is reduced by the notch, so that the thickness of its wall has to be greater than would be necessary for a sheath without a notch. On the other hand, if the thread is not pulled carefully, namely, if the pulling action is not carefully directed towards the back end of the sheath, the tampon is pulled entirely out of the sheath, so that it has to be reinserted with difficulty, and when the tampon is introduced into the vagina the thread must in addition be laboriously held tightly so that the tampon is not pushed back into the sheath. Furthermore, when inserted into the vagina, the ends of the notches at the front can cause injuries.